Vol X924 IV ’l M acGILLI VRAY, Australian Pratincole 
booburra and the Queensland border. I saw them later also 
on the stony plains bordering the Wilson River, and north of 
Cooper's Creek. They came to within 100 miles of Broken Hill, 
hut no farther. In 1921, 1 saw a few on the plains 60 or 70 
miles out of Broken Hill on the White Cliffs Road. 
Last year, 1923, we made a round trip through South-western 
Queensland, and back starting in August, but we saw none of 
these birds until on our way back, when we found them breeding 
on the stony plains bordering the Wilson River. Both eggs 
and young were seen early in September. For the rest of our 
way back we did not see any. 
On the 12th of October, Pratincoles were within 100 miles 
of Broken Hill, and a few pairs put in an appearance on our 
observation patch a week later, the first nest being found on the 
19th October. This nest, the usual ring of small pebbles on the 
ironstone portion of the patch, contained a pair of darkly- 
coloured eggs. After this, either Mr. Riddell, of the Technical 
College; myself, my motor-driver, who had been with me for 
many years, or all of us, paid bi-weekly visits to the patch. We 
found the birds arriving in increasing numbers until the third 
week in November, when their numbers attained the maximum. 
Most of them arrived in pairs, and started to nest immediately. 
Desert birds are like desert plants, and desert insects; they 
must perpetuate their kind as hurriedly as possible when con¬ 
ditions are favourable, and the hurry of the one is the hurry 
of the other, as the birds feed themselves and their young on 
the insects, and the insects live on the plants. The latter, as 
quickly as possible, flower, ripen and scatter their drought- 
resistant seeds, which lie hidden in the sun-baked earth or are 
blown about by scorching summer winds, often for years, till 
rain falls in sufficient quantity to make germination and repro¬ 
duction again worth while. The grasshoppers and other insects 
hasten in the same way to complete their metamorphosis, and 
bury their eggs before they themselves are eaten or die. The 
birds as soon as their young can fly, leave again for Central 
Australia, Western or North Queensland, or to the limit of 
iheir migration, the islands of the Malay Archipelago. During 
last spring and summer all of Western Queensland and Central 
Australia was in a bad way for herbage and water; consequently 
the birds came down to us in numbers. Many stayed only a 
few days, and passed on; others nested, but very few succeeded 
in rearing their young. Hawks soon knew of their arrival, and 
on one day a Whistling Eagle and a pair of Kestrels were quar¬ 
tering the patch on the look-out for young birds, but were too 
slow for the adult birds. It was not so, however, with a Little 
Falcon, which so often chooses the swiftest flying birds for its 
prey. Tt was not the actual numbers that the Falcons killed, 
but the disturbing effect of their presence that did so much 
harm. 
